Bangladesh

South Asia - Governments act to ease the way for more capacity

SOUTH ASIA: Governments are removing obstacles or introducing incentives to bring more wind power online.

Pakistan

Pakistan is bullish about wind for 2012, with the government-run Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) targeting 550MW to be brought online this year and another 1GW in 2013. This is ambitious considering current capacity is just 6MW, but in October the government introduced a feed-in-tariff (FIT) with the second most generous terms in Asia after Sri Lanka. The FIT is only available this year to encourage construction to start quickly.

The AEDB has approved 19 projects of 50MW, and feasibility studies for a further 13, totalling 650MW, have been submitted for approval. Projects are focused in the country's southern Sindh province, which has some of the best wind resources and contains Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and demand centre. Nordex, GE and Vestas have already signed deals.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has three projects totalling 30MW installed. Political wrangling over licenses were resolved by mid-2011 and the power ministry approved projects of over 10MW.

The International Finance Corporation announced it would invest $3.8 million in projects by Sri Lankan company Senok Group.

Bangladesh

The country only has 1MW installed capacity, according to the Bangladesh Power Development Board. Plans are underway for a 100MW offshore wind farm in Anwara in the south-eastern district of Chittagong. The board is in the process of inviting tenders. The government is offering a five-year income tax holiday for wind projects.

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